O'Leary among Trinity Catholic's unsung heroes

Dave Ruden

Updated 10:40 pm, Friday, March 15, 2013

Photo: Jason Rearick

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Trinity Catholic's Dan O'Leary snares a rebound and puts up a shot during their Class L state quarterfinal game against Career Magnet at Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013. Trinity Catholic won, 58-45.

Trinity Catholic's Dan O'Leary snares a rebound and puts up a shot during their Class L state quarterfinal game against Career Magnet at Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford on Monday, March 11, 2013.

STAMFORD -- The tweet came from Danny O'Leary's cousin in Boston. Karly Gorman was following Trinity Catholic's Class L semifinal game on Wednesday against Wilbur Cross via social network.

When Gorman read that a technical foul had been assessed in the second quarter, Gorman tweeted, "Let me guess, technical on Danny?"

Up until about three weeks ago, that would have been a safe bet. O'Leary, the starting senior not named Schadrac Casimir or Brandon Wheeler, saw his unsung contributions overshadowed by three technical fouls.

"Those were all bad decisions on my part," O'Leary said. "They were all in the heat of the moment and my emotions got the better of me. I wish they hadn't happened but I can't take them back."

Instead, O'Leary has channeled that energy in a positive manner, and the result has been his most consistent play of the season.

When the top-seeded Crusaders take the court this afternoon at Mohegan Sun to face Woodstock Academy, the focus will be on the team's so-called "Big Three" -- Schadrac Casimir, Brandon Wheeler and Tremaine Fraiser.

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Keys to victoryWilton coach Joel Geriak lost to Trinity Catholic during the regular season and FCIAC Tournament and to Woodstock Academy in the Class L quarterfinals. He offered these three keys to the game for Trinity:"Rebounding. Woodstock has good height and they are going to have to rebound with them.""They have to shoot well from the outside. Woodstock plays a very good 2-3 zone and they are very long and cover a lot of ground.""Other than Schadrac (Casimir) -- we all know Schadrac is going to be Schadrac -- (Tremaine) Fraiser has to have a good game, mainly from the outside, to stretch the defense and get (Brandon) Wheeler looks inside."-- Dave Ruden

But it has been the added contributions of the "Usung Three" -- O'Leary, Tyrell St. John and Neno Merritt -- that have allowed the Crusaders to roll over four tournament opponents by a stunning average of just under 26 points a game.

O'Leary has been a big part of it.

"He's a key cog," said Trinity coach Mike Walsh, noting that O'Leary fouled out of the team's lone two losses, against St. Joseph and Bridgeport Central in the final of the FCIAC Tournament. "He's really started playing well the last 10 or 11 games. Danny and I always have had a pretty good relationship. I've known him since the cradle. I try to harness Danny."

O'Leary, Casimir and Wheeler have played together since the 6th grade.

"He was always the most emotional of the three, always the craziest of the three," Casimir said with a smile. "I think he had the most technical fouls I've ever seen by a 6th-grader. He had the same passion then that he has now. As this season has gone up, he has played better. He's accepted his role. He does what it takes to win."

O'Leary's responsibilities are not the most glamorous, but they are integral to a team's success. He took three charges early in the 87-51 win over Wilbur Cross, giving him 18 for the year. He is also averaging 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 points.

"I have my roles on this team and shooting is not one of them," O'Leary said. "If I have an open shot I'll take it, but my role is to get the ball to the scorers."

Of his ability to draw offensive fouls against opponents, O'Leary, who was the Crusaders' quarterback this past fall, said, "I honestly don't know why, but I have done it since I was a kid. I just try to take advantage of people driving to the basket. This year in football we had a great line so I didn't take too many hits. I've taken more big hits playing basketball."

O'Leary missed almost his entire sophomore season after breaking his ankle, and opted not to play last year.

"There were so many good players that I didn't think I would have much of an impact and I thought I really wanted to focus on football," O'Leary said.

Walsh said he is happy O'Leary decided to play this season.

"He just epitomizes the three players who have helped get us to where we are," Walsh said. "Danny, Tyrell and Neno have really come on. They are less heralded but we basically play with six or seven guys. I tell Danny you can compare it to football. He is the quarterback and gets all the credit. Now he's an offensive linemen and doesn't get any credit."

O'Leary is the last of six siblings who were all multi-sport athletes and played basketball at Trinity. If the Crusaders win today, it will be the family's seventh state title in the sport.

"My brothers and sisters have had great success on the basketball court," O'Leary said. "I don't look at this as a family thing. I want to do this for me and my teammates and win a state championship together."

O'Leary's image makeover was never more evident than in Wednesday's game against Wilbur Cross.

As the skirmish that led to the technical foul played out, Karly Gorman may be surprised to learn her cousin played a new role: peacemaker.

"I didn't want anyone on our team getting involved," O'Leary said. "There just comes a point in your life when you realize you have to mature and be the bigger man."